Oliver Daniel

Cheers! Thanks for the feedback. Sadly I didn't have much time to work on the colour and Slog2 on this camera is a pain in the arse! Snow was a rush job. It was a nice simple shoot. Wouldn't put it anywhere near my "Best Of" but sometimes it's quite refreshing to do something a bit more straight forward. 100fps is this cameras best feature. The worst feature is focusing. Manual focusing with this camera is bloody hard, especially on moving subjects.

This camera needs light. I mean, A LOT of light in Slog2. The RX10 II only does Slog well if it's very, very bright. And I AM CRAZY!!! I don't regret it at all. I took a massive risk filming the video with a new, untested camera. The great thing was, we only had 6 hours to shoot it and the camera versatility really helped. On further projects, I got detached from the camera as I couldn't get the aesthetic I wanted (sterile lens and small sensor). Went back to the GH3 and the image + adapted FD lens is superior to the RX10 II (non-technical, just how it feels). Got rid of both my GH3's and RX10 II's and now have the A7S II. The A7R II is now on the way (multi-cam purposes). Not had enough time with the A7S II but impressed so far. All in all, you can make professional video quite easily with the RX10 II. It just comes down to what you want as an artist. Unfortunately, the camera was the wrong paintbrush for me. Although it will be right for some!

Here is the first ever project I shot completely on the Sony RX10 II. It's a traditional low budget British Christmas video, quite the opposite of my usual stuff. Shot in Slog2. Slider is Edekrone SliderPLUS v2. Lighting is Kino Flo and Dedo. Edited and graded in FCPX. Crew was me, Director, make up artist and a couple of assistants. (Unfortunately I have since sold both my RX10 II's as the sensor aesthetic wasn't right for me).

True story: new A7S user says: "I don't need to get any lighting gear now I have the A7S"... The world's best cinematographers will make a much better film with a smartphone than the average joe would with a Red Dragon and Cooke primes. Now with the accessible price of the URSA Mini, there will be volumes of negative comments blaming the camera for poorer than expected quality.

Cheers! Can't wait to get the Helios 40-2. I've got Sigma ART and Samyang EF lenses for more regular looks, however I'm on a character-lens obsessive campaign. It might be time to pull the trigger on one of those really Schidt lenses too with aperture modules. Cheers, I'll have a look. I have to admit, I'm not the worlds best at DIY stuff. These projector lenses seem quite rare!

Got a Helios 40-2 coming! Seen these - but what exactly are these cheap chinese helicoid things? I guess to mount the lens, because the Diaplan is a projector lens indeed.

Hello! I've got a project where the aesthetic of "soap bubble bokeh" is the way to go. I'm very, very aware of the Trioplan 100mm and it's sharp rise in value. At this moment in time, I can't justify buying one of these on eBay for a single project (even though i want one for keeps). Does anybody recommend a more "budget" alternative?

With more time and care, the image from this camera will be outstanding. The test clips look very, very rushed and those testing haven't had much time with the camera yet. At first, the A7S was throwing out an awful image almost everywhere online. Cut to 18 months later, and I'm seeing fantastic looking footage shot with the camera, now users have got round the grading challenge.

My eBay listing for my GH3 massively stalled today and went for a very low £260. Oh, I wonder why.....

I like LUTs. Whatever tool helps me get the best out of the images, and works for the project, I will use. Even if it's teal and orange. If your method works for you, your audience and clients - who gives a damn what other people think?

I thought it was a Sony at first, but I do think this is real URSA Mini 4.6k footage. You can see the thickness of the image in some shots. I think the underwhelming quality comes from the lack of experience grading/exposing/operating the Mini. At this stage, hardly anybody will know how the LOG Gamma curve behaves. Also there's no hint of added lighting in this video - Blackmagic cameras need controlled lighting. Like all cinema cameras. I cancelled my pre-order as work requirements have changed. Also I want to test it first - you can't base much judgement on a camera through random online videos. The majority of "tests" online for all cameras are pretty awful - even the paid for launch videos!

You can't go wrong with the Russians as they are full of "flaws" and they look great! Certainly not boring and clinical like a Panasonic lens. I was thinking of adding a Rokinon/Samyang 14mm and 85mm for my "clean" set. How are you finding them? Oddly, they don't sell the Cine DS line here.

Mir 1B 37mm, Helios 58mm, Helios 85mm... Can't get enough of that character. On the other side of the coin, Sigma ART 18-35mm. I made my business on Canon FD lenses. Just superb for the price.

Well, I've got the A7S II on the way, followed shortly by the A7R II. (I cancelled my pre-order for the BM Ursa Mini 4.6k as it doesn't currently fit my recently changed business plan. Will revisit mid-2016). While I'll be shooting a lot on some funky vintage glass, some of my work needs a clean-cut look, and I have Sigma ART EF lenses. I've only used Metabones with E-mount. It's crap on the FS7 (the aperture becomes a daft type of self-aware). It was fine on the original A7S. I remember using a Commlite EF adapter on an A7S and this seemed to work fine. Any experience/recommendations with these adapters or any others?

Nebula seems pretty good. I jumped on the gimbal bandwagon early with a BeSteady. That was a mistake, as the thing didn't work for about a year. The Ronin-M seems like a mature product. Yes I know all about the "feel". I'm rather into it. Although my works with the original A7S aren't a huge number, I really enjoyed the creative possibilities with that camera. Didn't like the general colours, but I've not spent enough time with it to really judge. Pleased with my FS700/FS7/F55 stuff though - colour wise. I think I'll have a blast with these cameras, and be able to get the most out of some of my weird vintage glass like Meyer Optik Gorlitz, Helios etc. The bokeh on the Trioplan is crazy. Also got a really crap Nikon lens, a 43-86 which I really like because the flares are ridiculous. Best on full frame easily. Not so on the GH3/4. The only major worry for me is battery life. It was awful on the first A7S.

It sounds very similar to the Apertus Axiom pitch. It would be really cool if these guys had a trick up their sleeves, I'm all for the small guys shaking up the industry!

What on earth is all this about then? http://comingsoon.craftcamera.com

Cheers for the feedback. We will definitely be shooting stills too (A7R II) and coupled with the A7S II we have 100fps in HD. Both cameras have the 5-axis, plus we have a Ronin-M. I'm really waiting for the pistol grip market to mature before going down that route. I've never used Sony lenses, so a bit head scratchy there. Could do with one wide for the gimbal. Cheers for the suggestion.

To all users of the A7S II and A7R II, how's it going? The reason I ask is because I'm going to be doing a continuous series of jobs which involves grabbing footage of live gigs, quick interviews, cutaways, music videos, promo stills... all in one package for online content creation. The client wants 4k, some type of slow motion and "moving" shots. Low light, portable setup + a small footprint is obviously very important. In the middle of all this, I'll be performing commercial jobs and other content through my business. I can't think of a better package than the A7S II & A7R II, operated by myself and business partner. Ticks all the boxes right? I'm very experienced with Sony (FS700, FS7, F55, A7S, RX10 II - I only own the RX10 II) - but just wondering what current users think of the cameras. I've got EF lenses (electronic and manual), do you recommend any Sony lenses? (for stills + autofocus on a gimbal, wide shot). Anything quirks look out for? Any recommended accessories? Anything else? THANK YOU EOSHD!!

Just carrying on from my last post... if Slog3 in XAVC-L on the FS7 is anything to go by, this function will be a complete waste of time on the FS5. I had to switch the FS7 to XAVC-L at the end of the shoot because card space was very low and I needed more time fast. I was shooting a bunch of elderly women rocking out on electric guitars and behind them was some stripy wallpaper. Stripes were quite thick (not thin). Scene was lit with high key light, crystal clear. The women looked ok, but the background wallpaper was absolutely horrendous. It has like someone had badly drawn Tetris bricks onto the wallpaper and got sick over it. The same thing was apparent on a wooden dressing table. It was like it had turned into an 8-bit Nintendo SNES dressing table. Using this codec with Slog3 is a huge no! I hope for FS5 buyers it is better.

The Canon's are going nowhere anytime soon. Some of the stuff you hear about Canon on this forum is far from reality. I wrapped a shoot yesterday as part of a big team of camera operators, all of which were hired for a project for a big major football team and their sponsor. We prepped all the gear - and there were 5 C300's, 6 5D Mk. III's and a ton of EF lenses. (there were also 20 GoPro's). I setup a bunch of C300's but was tasked to operate a 5D Mk. III. Every single camera operator knew exactly what to do with these cameras, no questions asked. A few of us brought our own cameras as backups. The A7S and RX10 II popped up, but nobody would use them because they were like some kind of foreign objects. When I said to someone I could operate the Sony's, one of the camera assistants looked at me like I was insane. Because of the Canon's, the process was smooth and reliable as everyone knew the brand and know they work well. Canon have a major presence in big commercial work. People who say they are "toast" because of Sony's spec sheet monster products don't know what they are talking about. Canon know this, and if they didn't, we'd be seeing 4k and 120fps in all their DSLR's very, very soon. (won't happen). In credit to Sony - there was an FS7 on set capturing behind the scenes footage. It was the most talked about gadget on set. They've done a great job of that camera.

Well after using Slog2 on the RX10 II on some low budget shoots - I think I can pretty much confirm that the limitations of the camera almost makes Slog2 unusable. I believe this is because the camera is not only very light hungry, but also the codec is too weak to manage it. The noise is absolutely horrendous, even at 2+ ETTR. I've got decent results shooting outdoors and indoors using very bright lighting. Sadly I'm not enjoying the camera much now. Tried using Slog3 and XAVC-L on the FS7 again. Not bad, but it's a waste really. I'll only shoot XAVC-I from now on (when not completely desperate).

Have you shot XAVC-L on the FS7? (codec on the FS5). XAVC-I is vastly superior... I'd be worried about using XAVC-L if weighing up an FS5. Loads of issues in the image.

I'm not a fan of the first A7S. Sure the low light is "cool", but the colour at those high ISO's is bloody terrible.

Fair point - whatever suits I've shot green screen using Blackmagic Log and Slog3 - got great results with Blackmagic but Slog3 was definitely trickier, I think I remember having to bake in a Rec709 colour space onto Slog, de-noise (blocky yellow noise in dark trousers, issues with keying) and transcode new files to make it work well. Blackmagic is the best camera I've ever used for green screen. When using slo-mo options, I also find any Slog to be super noisy. I did a shoot a week ago on the FS7 and it was a bright, well lit image, slightly overexposed. The darker areas though have awful noise in 150fps (thank god for Neat Video). Same goes for the RX10 II, the noise in Slog when using slo-mo is absolutely insane. Are you finding this (also with the A7S II)?